Second Look At Once
So the new TV season is shaking out and one of the few new shows I'm still watching is, surprisingly, Once Upon A Time. Surprising, because it's not like I love this show. But I keep returning.
Following in its creators' Lost footsteps, each episodes moves forward the main, present-day story but goes into the past to show what happened to these characters before the curse, and demonstrates how their tale reflects on the modern story.
Okay. Fine, So far I've found the storyline more weird than dramatic. And I'm not that thrilled with the new versions of old fairy tales. I suppose what holds me is wondering how and when the curse will be dealt with.
Still, the whole set-up leads to a lot of questions. Apparently, no one in town aged until the 28-year-old Emma--who is fated to end the curse--shows up. So what was life like before? Were people walking around in a haze? Didn't they notice anything weird? And now new things are happening all the time with her around (like the appearance of crickets). Once again, why isn't this considered a big deal?
For that matter, no one in the town ever leaves. (Apparently if they do bad things happen.) Alright, but don't they have television, and internet access? Don't they wonder how things are elsewhere, and occasionally take a day trip to Boston?
Then there's the awareness of the curse. We're led to believe the Evil Queen/Mayor knows about it. After all, she's the main villain. But if that's true, what is her attitude toward Henry, who's trying to make everyone else see it? Does she, as his mom, care for him at all? He was recently stuck down a mine--presumably the Seven Dwarfs' diamond mine--and I wondered if she was worried for his safety, or would she have happily seen him dead?
Odder, just what does she get from this curse (especially now that she has to worry every day it'll be uncovered by Emma)? Even if she runs the town so its inhabitants hate the place (so why don't they vote her out?), what good is this curse if her former enemies don't even remember who she is or what happened to them? I suppose it gives her cold heart inner happiness, but it's not much. It's not exactly like her enemies are consciously suffering--the classic payoff for villains.
Then there's Rumpelstiltskin, who's also Mr. Gold, richest man in town. He made all sorts of nasty deals in fairy tale land, and also is a tough bargainer in the modern town. Is he aware of the curse? I think so, based on his activity in both eras. But then the curse changed him but didn't change his mind. Why didn't the queen fool him as well? After all, he has a deal where the Evil Queen has to do whatever he requests of her if he says please, which sounds like a pretty crappy deal for her if he's fully aware of it.
As the series progresses, when will anyone--especially Emma--take the curse seriously. And once she realizes it's real, isn't the game up? What can the Mayor do? (I hope not another curse to make her forget.) Emma may have trouble convincing the others, but her path will be clear.
The show is doing well in the ratings, so might be around for a while. But like Lost, the longer it lingers with no clear end in sight, the slacker the drama will get. I hope they just don't keep introducing new characters from fairy land. That's already gotten dull. I'd rather they have a limited run so they know where they're going. If they don't, it's likely I'll only be viewing it for a limited time.
posted by LAGuy @ 12:10 AM
4 Comments:
So far, I have been definitely enjoying it. I think that's mostly due to the acting, especially the Queen and Snow White (I never think of them by their "real world" names for some reason).
But I agree that it will get boring sooner or later unless they have an arc.
I think they could make this a really good one-season show... like Heroes would be, if we burned every copy of seasons two, three, and four.
By the way, I have been re-watching Lost recently. When Charlie swims down to the Looking Glass, he meets two young Other women: a loud redhead and another one who doesn't say much and was quite unremarkable when I watched it the previous times. But this time I noticed her and realized that she is the same actress who plays the Evil Queen. Are there any other Lost actors in OUAT?
Often, fantasy or mysterious science fiction keeps its aura of mystery by not directly confronting the boundaries of what can happen. (In Lost, Jack fired a gun at Locke at the end of season three, and Michael survived a suicide attempt in season four. These still had an aura of mystery. When Jack tested this by repeatedly trying to blow himself up in season six to prove that he was invincible, the boundaries were illuminated.)
If they begin to shine the light on OUAT's boundaries, it will turn into Dark City. In other words, the best way for Henry to prove his theory is to walk through the town and quiz every single resident on what they remember about their childhoods, about their age, about whether they have children, etc., and have Emma write it all down. That's how it worked in Dark City....
I am watching mostly because I don't want to miss the boat like I did on Lost.
I'm convinced now that the Queen is subject to the curse, which was Rumpelstiltskin's original trick (he always tricks people when he makes a deal). I'm not sure if he was unexpectedly caught up in the curse too (remember he was in prison when the curse took effect, and he may not have been counting on that. The Queen, meanwhile, is still mean, but as LA Guy points out, it seems to serve no purpose - it's just her nature. Also, I think she really cares for Henry, her adopted son. Henry was the name of her father whom she killed to invoke the curse (the one thing she actually loved had to be sacrificed).
The best part of the show is Rumpelstiltskin, who is super creepy in both worlds. Like LA Guy, I don't like what they are doing to the fairy tails. I would be more impressed if they forced themselves to stick word-for-word with the traditional readings, which would require some pretty clever writing to make the new world characters fit. Why is little Red Riding Hood a buxom waitress who wears red short-shorts?
The biggest weaknesses are 1) the writing for the fairy tale version of the characters (they use modern expressions, etc.) and 2) the acting of little Henry and Emma. Emma is badly cast (imho) and they should have gotten a precocious little Brit to play Henry.
I agree the queen is the best actress, though there's not much competition, except for Rumpelstiltskin. The good guys are mostly boring. The central couple are Snow White and Prince Charming but I don't find them or the actors who play them that interesting.
I'm sure you noticed Alan Dale (Charles Widmore) as the King to Prince Charming.
Though the kid is the catalyst of the plot, I find him sort of annoying. I like the character of Emma better but I agree Jennifer Morrison isn't doing a great job yet--where's the feisty bounty hunter of the pilot She also seems to have lost the "magical power" they gave her of being able to tell if people are lying or not. (Which, by the way, is why we believe the Mayor doesn't love her son--she may need him for appearances, though.)
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